Henry VIII vs. John Calvin in the Protestant Reformation In the sixteenth century, stood the reformation of the Catholic Church in Western Europe. While the main focus was an internal renovation of the church, the outcome was much different than expected; the reformation led to a revolt against and an abandonment of principal Christian belief. The difference in the view and act of oneself was different from individual to individual during the reformation. While Calvin left for Geneva in 1536 from France because of the fear of persecution for the publically spread beliefs of his about the Church to the people, Henry VIII had manipulated the church for a way to receive a new wife in hopes for his first son. Different motivation stands for each of these people in what they did for the reformation.
Paul III and Charles V had vastly different expectations of the council; Charles V hoped that the general council would end the schism by removing abuses which both protestant and Catholics had complained about for so long – Charles was convinced that the removal of these abuses would stem the tide of defection from the Church. He anticipated the council would then agree on definitions of
With the Donatist controversy Constantine eventually appealed to them using force, attempting to persuade them to Catholic Church. He eventually abandoned this method as it appeared to be a persecution of the Christians all over again. Constantine did not just patronize the Christian religion, after the battle at the Milvian Bridge a triumphal arch was erected in remembrance of his victory, which had
Henry’s unusual toleration of the Huguenots caused trouble for the native Catholics in France and angered Pope Clement but this toleration would somewhat prevail in the Edict of Nantes because of what the nation and the two factions suffered prior to its creation. The Edict of Nantes not only granted successions to both sides but they were far fairer to the Huguenots including the granting of their civil rights, the rights that they lost in the Edict of Boulogne. The Edict of Boulogne was a slap in the face for the Huguenots as it segregated them from modern society, permitting them to only preach in the towns of La Rochelle, Mountauban and Nimes and even with that, only in their own homes. No
Was there really a threat to the Elizabethan regime from the Puritans? In 1559, Elizabeth created a religious settlement, which was mainly Protestant, but included many Catholic teachings. In theory, the settlement would end religious controversy and unite the people of the country. However, in practice, this didn't happen, as there was opposition to the settlement, from both Catholics and Puritans. Puritans were extreme Protestants who believed that Elizabeth's religious settlement was not enough – they believed that the Anglican church was still too much like the Roman Catholic Church.
However, considering that almost all of England, and Europe for that matter, was Roman Catholic at the time (bar a few smaller Christian religions, which did not affect the country on a national level), it is not the case that religion, or religious disagreements, caused rebellion against the king. Even the different rival factions (Yorkist’s, Burgundy, Ireland, etc.) were all of the same religion. Furthermore, the Church itself was a major form of authority; since enforcing laws in a country such as England was difficult due to the vast distances between each county, the churches were “the main stabilizing force”. The church was ran by the Vatican, and not the state, therefore, if the people were upset by the church, they would protest to the church and not to the monarchy.
Therefore by reforming the English Church and removing the Pope and making Henry VIII the Supreme Head of the Church in England, there was a revolution in the relationship between Church and State. Also as Thomas Cromwell, who masterminded this manoeuvre, had used parliament to enforce the reformation the principle that King-in-parliament was the highest form of authority. This sat very well with Henry VIII and appealed far more to those who lent to the positive and idealistic though secular form of anti-clericalism. This is one reason why the English Church did need to be reformed in the 16th century. Another reason the English Church may have needed reforming would be that many people lost enthusiasm for religious orders and religious images in the 16th century.
Topic: Compare and contrast Nazi and Soviet aims and policies towards religion. Both countries – Germany and the Soviet Union tried to minimize the effects of the Churches on people. Their leaders – Adolf Hitler in Germany and Joseph Stalin in the USSR wanted to make their ideologies the most important and effective. In the Nazi Germany the most known religious organization was Protestants and Catholics belonging to Christianity. In the Soviet Union it was Orthodox, Baptists and in smaller amounts Catholics and Protestants.
The influence of Somerset came to an end in 1550, having been overthrown due to the rebellions in the West and in Norfolk which had led to unemployment discontent amongst the people and high prices for food stuffs. He was replaced by the Duke of Northumberland who headed up the Regency Council. His initial attention was focused on resolving the problem of making peace with both Scotland and France – both countries had been at war with England and to gain the support of Edward in solving this problem he allowed increasingly radical reforms to be introduced into the Church of England. Laws were passed to make churches plainer. Catholic churches were rich in decorations and colour.
Roman Catholicism was a natural ideological threat to Elizabeth’s policies of a national Protestant Church and her belief in the royal supremacy. As a religion which preached loyalty to the Pope and to Rome, it was in obvious conflict with the Elizabethan Settlement which demanded allegiance to England and the Supreme Governor. One of the most ominous traits of Roman Catholicism at the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign was its resilience: Catholicism and Papists had survived throughout the nationalisation of the Church by Henry VIII and more extreme Protestantism under Edward VI. More worryingly for Elizabeth, they had gained strength under Mary I, both socially and politically, that she would have to compete with or undo. In many ways, Elizabeth’s settlement took the via media between the conservative and reformist religious camps, yet the majority of the country was still Catholic.